Trial in Md. dog shooting starts Friday

By
Washington Post editors

The differing accounts of what happened at the Quail Run community's dog park are scheduled to be aired Friday in an Annapolis courtroom, The Baltimore Sun reports.

A judge is to decide if Keith Elgin Shepherd, 32, a civilian police officer for the Army in Northern Virginia, is guilty of animal cruelty and firing his gun near homes, or if the shooting of the husky dog named "Bear-Bear" owned by Ryan and Rachel Rettaliata was justified. Shepherd's lawyer said he was protecting himself, his wife and pet, a German shepherd named Asia.

"Only a dog"? You're full of humanity. One thing that is suppossed to put us "above" the animals is our ability to control our behavior. Obviously some people haven't reached that level, and remain at the "animal" level.

The outcome of whether the shooting of the dog is justified is really beside the point. The real question for Marylanders is why this person, who has a right to have a gun ON DUTY in Virginina, has any right to carry a gun in Maryland, much less to discharge it. Virginia-based cowboys need to understand that the Potomac is a political and phychological barrier as well as a physical barrier. Perhaps we need to have better signage on the Wilson Bridge and the American Legion Bridge alerting drivers coming into Maryland that some of the rules are different. If you are not on duty,
1-leave you gun at home,
2-leave it in the car
3-re-read 1 & 2.